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‘MINISTRY OF ANGELS” REALIZED. 




L E T T E R 


to the; 


Congregational Cjmrdj, 


BOSTON. 


BY TVYO MEMBERS OF THAT CHURCH. 


' ‘Decause thou hast made the Lord thy habitation, ... He shall give 
His angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways.”— Psalm 91 -. 9, 11. 

“Are they not all ministering spirits, sent forth to minister for them who 
shall be heirs of salvation Heb. 1 : 14. 

“He saw in a vision, evidently, . . an angel of God coming to him.” — 
Acts 10 : 3. 

FIFTH THOUSAND. 


BOSTON: 

PUBLISHED BY A. E. NEYYTON, 5 WASHINGTON ST. 

SOLD BY BELA MARSH, 9 FRANKLIN ST. 


NE 


all the 

BOOKS ON SPIRITUALISM 

For Sale by WM. M. LANING, 

At tl T)e S p P otf ual s 276 Baltimore street, 

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AY. 








THE “MINISTRY OF ANGELS” REALIZED. 


LETTER 


TO THE 


CfMuarte (ffoitgttgalmtml €\m% 


BOSTON. 


BY TWO MEMBERS OF THAT CHURCH. 


“ Because thou hast made the Lord thy habitation, . . . He shall give 
His angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways.” — Psalm 91: 9, 11. 

“ Are they not all ministering spirits, sent forth to minister for them who 
shall be heirs of salvation ?” — IIeb. 1: 14. 

“He saw in a vision, evidently, . . an angel of God coming to him.” — 
Acts 10: 3. 


FOURTH THOUSAND. 

BOSTON : 

PUBLISHED BY A. E. NEWTON, 5 WASHINGTON ST. 

SOLD BY BELA MARSH, 25 CORNIIILL. 

NEW YORK: PARTRIDGE & BRITTAN, 300 BROADWAY. 

18 53 . 


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Introductory Note. — This pamphlet is not given to the public as a new 
revelation from heaven, challenging the attention and belief of mankind; 
nor yet as a theological or scientific treatise, inviting the criticism of schol- 
ars and divines; but it is simply a fraternal letter, called forth in the dis- 
charge of what has appeared to be a Christian duty, resulting from personal 
exigences (unusual, though they may be) in the private life and experi- 
ence of two humble members of a Christian church. It has been thought 
proper by them to put it in print, — first, that each of their fellow-members 
in the church may have the opportunity of a more careful acquaintance 
with its contents than would otherwise be practicable; secondty, to gratify 
the desires of numerous friends who, having known somewhat of the mat- 
ters therein referred to, have solicited copies; and lastly, to afford to any 
others who may wish to learn of “the wonderful works of God,” which are 
transpiring in this “latter day,” the benefit of the experience and conclu- 
sions which are therein set forth. This letter has been prepared neces- 
sarily with much haste, and in such fragments of time as could be secluded 
in the midst of most pressing and laborious occupations; but imperfect as it 
is, the offering is gratefully laid upon the altar of Progressive Truth. The 
result is left in the hands of Him who has sometimes seen fit to choose “the 
foolish things of the world to confound the wise, and the weak things of 
the world to confound the mighty.” 

A few words of explanation will show the occasion and .appositeness of 
the title — “The ‘Ministry of Angels’ Realized” — which has been pre- 
fixed to this Letter. A short time previous to the writing of it, the Rev. 
Mr. Pond, Pastor of the Edwards Church, in the ordinary course of his 
duties, and without any suggestion from the writers, (but very much to 
their surprise as well as gratification,) preached a discourse from Hebrews 
1 : 14, in which he presented in a very clear and interesting light the com- 
mon doctrine of the “ Ministry of Angels,” as theoretically held by the 
Christian world — going so far, even, as to advocate with much force the 
belief that our departed friends become, in the spirit-world, angels or mes- 
sengers of God, to minister unto us. With him, however, it appeared to 
be a merely speculative conviction, resting chiefly on evidences furnished 
to the world eighteen hundred years ago. The authors of this letter simply 
claim to have realized, in most joyful experience, the truth of what was 
thus taught, in theory, by their “regularly constituted” and orthodox spirit- 
ual guide. 

Boston, May, 1853. 


[Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1853, by A. E. Newton, 
in the Clerk’s Office of the District Court of Massachusetts.] 

PRINTED BY GEO. K. SNOW, 22 COURT STREET. 



1 


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LETTER 1 


To the Members of the Edwards Congregational Church, Boston : 
Dear Brothers and Sisters: 

The undersigned are induced to intrude themselves upon your 
attention in this extraordinary manner, in consequence of a series of 
most extraordinary events and experiences, to which, in the provi- 
dence of God, they have recently been called, and which, they con- 
ceive, lay upon them the burden of an unusual duty. 

Our ‘manner of life’ from the time when we became connected 
with you in Church relationship, is known to you all, — to some of 
you it is known for a much longer period, — ‘that after the most 
straitest sect of our religion we have lived’ Orthodox Congre- 
gationalists. When we sought to be received into your fellow- 
ship, it was from the sincere desire, as expressed at the time, to 
render ourselves more useful in the kingdom of Christ, and thus 
to attain higher degrees of advancement in spiritual life ; though 
we wish not to be understood as claiming any special purity of 
motive in this respect. When we assented to your creed, it was 
with sincerity and cordiality, believing it to embrace a very accu- 
rate epitome of the Christian Faith, according to the light we 
then had. And we had little expectation, at that time, that any 
further light would dawn upon us or the world, while we should 
remain in the body. 

But we feel bound to make known to you, that it has pleased 
the Father of Lights, ‘from whom cometh down every good and 
perfect gift,’ within the past few months, to shed a new and glo- 
rious light upon our pathway, and to open our eyes to clearer and 
higher perceptions of His truth, His wisdom, and His wonder- 
working providence. This has been done in a manner most un- 
expected to us, and, in latter times, most extraordinary; but it 
has been attended with such convincing and overwhelming proofs, 
as to leave, in our minds, after a most deliberate and searching 
investigation, no possible question as to its heavenly origin. As 
we have freely received, we feel bound freely to give ; and we can- 
not be ‘disobedient to the heavenly vision,’ without rejecting the 
most positive convictions of truth ever formed in our minds, and 
resisting the clearest obligations of duty ever felt by our con- 
sciences. 

Aware of the sensitiveness usually felt in our denomination, 


x 


4 


expecting any variation from the commonly received standards of 
faith, and holding no truths which we desire to conceal, and none 
in which you are not equally concerned with ourselves, we have 
judged it proper, in Christian frankness and confidence, to lay 
before you a concise and truthful statement of the position in 
which we now find ourselves, and of the wonderful means through 
which we have been brought to it. Such a statement we feel to 
be due to ourselves, in order that -we may not be held respon- 
sible for views which we no longer entertain : and also due to 
you, that you may not be considered as endorsing the orthodoxy 
of our present convictions, should you fail to be convinced of their 
truth. 

We then invite your candid attention to a brief narrative of ob- 
servation and experience. 

Upwards of two years since, we were induced, by the solicit- 
ation of an esteemed and intelligent friend, to witness for our- 
selves, certain extraordinary phenomena, which he believed were 
produced by the agency of disembodied spirits — alleging that he 
had received convincing proofs of the presence and ability to com- 
municate of personal friends who had been long in the spirit- world. 
We complied with the solicitation, from the conviction that it was 
neither manly nor Christian to refuse to investigate a subject fraught 
with consequences of such interest and importance to every human 
being. ‘Prove all things ; hold fast that which is good , ’ (1 
Thess. 5: 21,) is a maxim sanctioned equally by common sense 
and Divine authority. There seemed to be nothing absurd or im- 
possible in the supposition, since it was the almost universal sen- 
timent of Christendom, not only that angels are ‘ministering 
spirits’ to human beings in the body, (Ileb. 1 : 14,) — having 
‘charge over them in all their ways,’ (Ps. 91 : 11, 12,) and ‘en- 
camping round about to deliver them,’ (Ps. 34: 7,) — but that 
our departed friends, also, having become ‘os the angels,’ (Matt. 
22 : 30) are among that ‘great cloud of witnesses’ who ‘encom- 
pass us about,’ (Iieb. 12 : 1,) watching over us with undiminished 
love, and endeavoring to lead us upward toward the realms of 
purity and bliss. That they should wish to make us sensible of 
their presence and love, that we might more fully realize the 
benefits of their ministration, seemed extremely probable; and 
that the means of gratifying this wish might be granted them in 
this latter day, when advancement seems to be the order of God’s 
providence in every department of human interest, appeared by 
no means impossible. 

The results, however, of this investigation, at that time, were 
(for reasons then not apparent, but which have since been 
made plain to us) far from satisfactory. Though we witnessed 
some striking evidences of invisible intelligent agency, there was 
nothing by which this agency could be positively identified ; and 
the conclusion seemed most in accordance with our previous opin- 
ions, that if any agency beyond that of human beings was con- 
cerned, it was that of evil and seducing spirits. 


5 


Some months subsequently to this, we were led again to at- 
tempt the investigation, under circumstances more favorable to 
arriving at a satisfactory conclusion. At this time, public atten- 
tion was beginning to be turned somewhat extensively to the 
subject, and many were yielding credence to these marvels, as the 
precursors or attestations of a new dispensation of divine truth. 
We felt that if these things were from the Spirit of Evil, that fact 
could and ought to be ascertained and exposed ; and that it did 
not become those who profess to have had their minds enlightened, 
and their spiritual perceptions quickened to discern between truth 
and error, between evil and good, to sit by with folded hands, and 
not attempt to rescue from this new ‘snare of the devil,’ those 
who were being ‘taken captive by him at his will.’ It must first, 
however, be proved to be a snare of the devil, lest, in our efforts at 
rescue, we should ‘be found even to fight against God’ (Acts 5: 39.) 
This proof could not be obtained without a candid personal exami- 
nation, and such we resolved to make, as the only basis of a rational 
conviction. 

The results of the first interview were of the most surprising, 
yea, astounding character. An intelligence, claiming to be the 
spirit of a venerated parent, who had long since passed within the 
veil, manifested its presence, and addressed to one of us a come 
munication glowing with parental affection, and breathing the 
very spirit of the upper realm. This was accompanied by the 
statement of a number of facts pertaining to his earthly life, non t e 
of which, we were fully satisfied, could have been known to any 
person bodily present, except the inquirer, and some of them un- 
known even to him. Although the investigation bad been ap- 
proached with minds on the alert, and perceptions sharpened, to 
detect collusion, imposture, deception, or diabolism in any of its 
forms, no trace of them could be perceived ; all was conducted 
with evident frankness and candor, on the part of those con- 
cerned ; and no solution of the mystery was then arrived at, and 
no adequate one has since been offered, which does not recognize 
the agency of invisible intelligent beings. A trumpet-blast from 
the clouds could scarcely have been more startling to our pre- 
judices and unbelief, than was that message from the hidden 
world. For days it seemed as if a voice from heaven was indeed 
ringing in our astonished ears, and never were our souls more 
deeply stirred than by that solemn exhortation to ‘lead a life of 
holiness and sobriety on earth,’ that we might receive the ‘crown 
of glory’ and the Divine benediction when we should enter upoti 
the life to come. 

As may be well supposed, the interest awakened by this occur- 
rence, was sufficient to lead to a further investigation. But a 
truth so novel and startling could not at once be received, however 
demonstrative and convincing the evidence on which it rested. Nor 
was it until evidence had accumulated upon evidence, and proof 
become piled upon proof — not until manifestations of the most 
marvelous character had been repeatedly witnessed, under a great 


6 

variety of circumstances, and notwithstanding the application of 
every conceivable test, — that we could consent to acknowledge, 
even to ourselves, a belief in the agency of spiritual beings. That 
belief, however, in spite of prejudice and skepticism — in spite of 
the general cry of ‘humbug’ and ‘imposture’ — in spite of all 
attempts of ‘scientific men’ to explain the marvels on the basis of 
materialism, (which explanations we found to be in every case 
wholly inadequate to account for what we witnessed) — that belief 
became at length forced upon our minds by irresistible evidence. 

But the question still pressed upon us, Who were these invis- 
ible beings 1 and what their character and designs? They claimed 
to be the spirits of departed human beings — some of them insisted 
that they were our relatives and friends, who had thrown off the 
mortal tenement, and arisen to a higher form of life — and they 
furnished most startling and inexplicable proofs of their identity. 
They professed to be thus manifesting themselves to our outward 
senses, for the purest and holiest of purposes — to re-awaken long 
buried affection, and cause the conscious re-union of our hearts 
with the ‘loved and lost’, who indeed were not lost, but ever 
watching around us — to dissipate the clouds of fear, and ignor- 
ance, and doubt, which hangover the portals of the tomb — to 
quicken our faith in the realities of the unseen world, and the 
glories that there await the earnest seeker for truth and goodness, 
— and to proclaim the speedy coming on earth of that glorious 
promised day, when ‘the face of the covering cast over all people, 
and the veil that is spread over all nations,’ shall be removed ; 
when ‘death shall be swallowed up in victory,’ and ‘the tears 
wiped away from all faces.’ (Isa. 25 : 7, 8.) 

Were they what they claimed to be, or were they deceivers? 
Were they good spirits, or evil ? Or were there both good and 
evil? Some people were ready to decide at once, that, if spirits, 
they must be evil, and therefore wholly to be avoided. But this 
was a condemnation without a trial. The injunction of the Apos- 
tle is, — and it was now seen to have an application before un- 
thought of, — not to reject them altogether, but to ‘try. the spirits 
whether they be of God.’ (1 John 4 : 1.) This certainly implies 
that some are of God, and some not. And surely, if any depend- 
ence could be placed upon the representations of the scriptures on 
the subject, w T e are surrounded and watched over by ministers of 
good as truly as of evil ; and why should the former, whose duty 
it is to have ‘charge over us in all our ways,’ neglect f to interfere, 
and warn us of, and save us from, the machinations of the latter? 
To suppose they were not allowed to do so, would be inconsistent 
with the goodness and the promises of God. 

But some will ask at the outset, Is not all converse with spirits for- 
bidden by the Deity ? We reply that we know no evidence of such 
prohibition, except as regards evil or undeveloped spirits, and with 
snch we have no desire for intercourse. If the prohibitions given 
through Moses, included good as well as evil, then they were 
transgressed by Moses himself, — for, did he not talk with the 
augel at the bush’ ? (Acts 7 : 30.) And did he not receive the 


7 


law ‘by the ministration of angels,’ (Heb. 2 : 2. Acts 7 : 53,) 
spending forty days with them in the mount? (Ex. 24 : 18.) 
It was transgressed also by Samuel, Elijah, Isaiah, Ezekiel, 
Daniel, and doubtless all the prophets, for do they not describe 
their interviews with spiritual beings, sometimes terming them 
‘men,’ and again ‘angels of the Lord ’?* (1 Sam. 3. Isa. 6. 

1 Kings 19 : 5, 7, 11. Eze. 40 : 3. Dan. 8 : 16. 9 : 21. 10 : 
5,16. 12: 6, 7.) It was transgressed, too, by Christ, at the 
transfiguration (Luke 9 : 30.), and by the apostles and others in 
numerous instances. (Acts 1 : 10. 10 : 3. 11 : 12. 12 : 7, 8. 
16: 9.) And lastly, John the Revelator wrote the whole book of 
the Apocalypse, under the direction and inspiration of an ‘angel,’ 
who at the end announced himself to be his * fellow-servant , and 
of his brethren the prophets.* (Rev. 22 : 9.) 

It was thus evidently our duty not to condemn or avoid all indis- 
criminately, but to distinguish between them. Moreover, the 
rule by which they were to be tried was given, both by the Apos- 
tle and by Christ. ‘Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus 
Christ is come in the flesh, is of God.’ (1 John 4 : 2.) ‘By their 
fruits shall ye know them. (Matt. 7 : 20.) Having thus the tests 

f rnt into our hands, with the all-sufficient promise, ‘If any of you 
ack wisdom, let him ask of God, who giveth unto all men liberally, 
and it shall be given you,’ (Jas. 1 : 5.) why should we refrain 
from applying them ? 

The most favorable opportunities were offered us for making this 
investigation ; and they were carefully and prayerfully improved. 
For several successive months did we continue to apply to what 
was transpiring under our notice, through the mediumsnip of others, 
the keenest powers of observation, and the highest exercise of 
moral perception, which have been granted us — ever seeking aid 
and light from Him who has said, ‘Ask, and ye shall receive.’ 

At length these intelligences from another sphere began to 
manifest themselves to us, in a manner most unlooked-for, and di- 
verse from anything we had elsewhere witnessed, in the quietness 
and seclusion of our own home, and without the intervention of 
any other person. From small and gentle beginnings, they have 
gone forward as we were able to bear the increasing light, to give 
greater and higher and clearer proofs of the reality of their pres- 
ence, their identity, and their heavenly mission ; until, through a 
period of six or seven months, we have been permitted, as we be- 
lieve, the almost daily enjoyment of the sweetest and most intimate 
communion with the spirits of ‘just ones made perfect’ above. 

We cannot undertake to detail to you in this communication the 
extraordinary scenes which we have passed through, nor to recite 
the wonderful messages we have listened to, during this period. A 
volume would be required to present the subject adequately to your 
minds. Nor will we attempt to describe the mental struggles 


♦In some instances they seem to have supposed the Lord himself appear- 
ed; but we have New Testament authority for believing that “No man hath 
seen God at any time.” (John 1: 18.) 3 


which it has cost us to overcome the barriers of prejudice, and yield 
our hearts to the truths and convictions which have been irresist- 
ibly forced upon us. We can mention only the general features of 
our experience, with the results to w r hich we have been led. 

First, that there are false and wicked spirits seeking in this 
way to communicate with men, is as fully evident as that there 
are false and wicked men in this life, — and they are to be judged 
in the same manner, by their words and works. The fact that the 
human body may be possessed and controlled by evil spirits, is, to 
us, no longer a fact of history, but of observation ; and more than 
once have we been called upon to ‘cast out devils* in the name of 
Christ.’ Through the earlier part of our experience, it was a matter 
of perplexing inquiry, how we might be secure from the annoy- 
ances and deceptions practiced upon us by these ill-disposed intel- 
ligences. At length, the whole question was solved in a manner 
so plain, that we wondered it should have caused us any difficulty. 
We were taught that the great law of attraction, or affinity, holds 
as universally in the spiritual as in the physical world — that we 
draw around us spirits like ourselves, those whose motives, feel- 
ings, aspirations, are most in affinity with our own ; and that if 
we would attract only the good, the pure, the exalted, we must 
ourselves be pure-minded, sincere, devout ; and the channel of 
communication must also be pure and elevated. 

The operations of this law are evident, to an imperfect degree, 
in the world about us. Who has any fear that the debased and 
polluted denizens of the haunts of vice, will intrude themselves 
into our meetings of devotion, and endeavor to instill the poison 
of their irreligion into our hearts, under the guise of religious dis- 
course? They have no affinity there, — neither are the good at- 
tracted to the assemblies of evil men, except for offices of benevo- 
lence and pity. We are not then left, as some suppose, wholly at 
the mercy of the evil-disposed ; but if we ‘resist the devil, he will 
flee from us.’ 

The following advice, from our invisible attendants, shows the 
tenor of their instructions on this point ; judge for yourselves, 
whether it is from above or beneath : 

“Meet with us often. Come with confidence. Come with ele- 
vated thoughts and purity of purpose. Come with the Lord’s 
Prayer engraved upon your minds and hearts. Come with con- 
trite and devout hearts, and God’s declaration, that ‘where two 
or three are met together in my name, there will I be in the midst 
of them,’ shall not be void ; but you then shall hear glad tidings 
from on high through God’s messengers.” 

Acting in accordance witli instructions so proper, and secluding 
ourselves from all associations tending to an opposite direction, we 
have, found no further reason to suspect that this method of com- 
municating with the invisible world has been wholly usurped by 
the great adversary of souls. On the contrary, 

Secondly, we have the most abundant evidence of the goodness, 


* The meaning of this term ■will be made more apparent hereafter. 


9 

purity, the exalted intelligence and the transcendent love of those 
who claim to be our heaven-appointed guardians. We know not 
how demonstration could possibly be stronger than it is on these 
points. 

As has. already been stated, we have been permitted to hold 
almost daily converse with them, in the quiet seclusion of our own 
household, and under circumstances admitting of no possible mis- 
take or delusion. They are by our side, sensibly and often visi- 
bly, at morning, noon and evening, and encamp around us and 
our little ones through the silent hours of night. When we bow 
in worship around the family altar, they join their worship with 
ours, ‘helping our infirmities’ and ‘making intercessions for us,’ 
in words full of wondrous meaning and sublime adoration. When 
we approach the table to partake of God’s bounties, they are ever 
nigh to remind us of the great Giver of all good, to inspire our 
hearts with thankfulness, and to instruct us in the nature and 
qualities of the different kinds of food, that we may select only 
such as is ‘convenient for us.’ (And we may here remark that 
the useful, practical and truly scientific information they have im- 
parted to us on subjects connected with dietetics and the gen- 
eral care of the health of our bodies, has of itself been sufficient 
to demonstrate beyond all cavil their superior insight into the laws 
of our being, and their benevolent intentions. We do not pro- 
fess, however, to have acted upon their instructions fully as yet, 
for so far removed are the habits of artificial life from the simpli- 
city of nature that an immediate return seems impracticable in the 
present state of society. Consequently we have not yet experi- 
enced the full benefits they would confer, but their teachings have 
commended themselves to our highest perceptions of what is desir- 
able and salutary.) 

When we have opened the ancient record of God’s revelations 
to man, then they have specially delighted to stand by and lend 
us their aid in understanding the precious volume, pointing 
out new beauties and hidden glories in its pages. Most literally 
have they opened our eyes ‘to behold wondrous things’ out of 
that book. Undiscovered truths are made to beam forth from 
many an obscure and doubtful line, familiar words have received 
new meanings, and many things in ‘ the ways of God to man,’ 
which have heretofore seemed dark, mysterious, and full of gloom, 
now stand vindicated of all seeming harshness, and the tender 
parental love of our Heavenly Father is made to shine forth in 
resplendent beams upon all His offspring, both from His word and 
His works. When we have met with you in the public assemblies 
of the Lord’s Day, they have also been about us, making mani- 
festations of their supreme delight in the higher acts of praise 
and adoration, impressing us with clearer perceptions of heavenly 
truth, and teaching us to discern between that which God has re- 
vealed and that which man in his blindness and ignorance has 
perverted or invented. Yea, startling as it may seem to you, 
throngs of angels, bright as those whose music was heard o’er 


10 


Bethlehem’s plains, were on one occasion of special interest seen 
within the walls of our humble temple, hovering over each one of 
you, and endeavoring to breathe into your souls .‘glad tidings of 
great joy.’ You have often unconsciously recognized their pres- 
ence, and addressed them in your songs of praise, invoking them 
to join your worship. 

“Praise Him above, ye heavenly host;”* 

“Ye holy throng of angels bright, 

In worlds of light, begin the song;”f 

“Your voices raise, ye cherubim 
And seraphim, to sing His praise 

“Oh ye angels, hovering round us, 

Waiting spirits, speed your way;”§ 

“A cloud of witnesses around 
Hold thee in full survey;” IT 

and many, many more like invocations and recognitions, to be 
found on almost every page of your devotional hymns — how 
often have they been repeated by your lips, though perhaps with 
scarce a thought they had a meaning, much less a realization that 
the bright beings addressed were around you and listening to your 
words. If it be not so, however, you will at once perceive the 
vainness and absurdity of thus calling upon them. 

Not only on such occasions, but in all the common walks, trials, 
and vicissitudes of life, whenever we feel the need of assistance, 
strength and light from above, we find them at hand, bringing to 
us, from the great Source of Good, those supplies of grace and 
wisdom which we require — ever counseling us, however, not to 
ask of them, or to rely upon their power and wisdom, but upon 
Him whose ministers they are, and whose will they perform* 
When care and perplexity, as regards the affairs of this life, have 
borne upon us, they have been ever ready with words of counsel 
and of cheer — never, however, so directing us as to supersede the 
use of our own faculties, but always in such a manner as to bring 
out the highest exercise of our individual judgment and reason. 
When all manner of evil has been spoken against us falsely by 
former friends, because we have yielded our convictions to irresist- 
ible evidences of this unpopular belief, they have been near to whis- 
per words of consolation and hope that have made us truly 
‘blessed,’ and we have been permitted to realize, as did the pro- 
phet’s servant, whose eyes the Lord opened, (2 Kings 6 : 16,17) 
that ‘they that be for us are more than they that be against us.’ 
And in the quiet hours of retirement and contemplation, when we 
have sought to know more of ourselves and our relations to the 
universe around us, to solve the great problems of life, and to com- 
prehend more of His ways who ‘works all things after the coun- 
sel of His own will,’ then also have we found ourselves under the 
guidance and teaching of instructors whose knowledge extends 


* Doxology. f Ch. Psalmody, Psalm 148, 5th Part. 

X Ch. Psal., Ps.148, 4th Pt. § Do., Hymn 234. IT Do., Hymn 379. 


11 


beyond our highest previous conceptions; whose wisdom, compared 
with the low-born philosophy of earth, is as the noon-day sun to 
the flickering taper ; and whose sole design appears to be to dis- 
play before us the wondrous wisdom, power, and perfections of 

the Great Author of Minds, that we may see Him as they see 

adore Him as they adore — and love Him as they love. 

One characteristic of their teachings has been, an absence of 
all dogmatism, or attempt to thrust upon us strange doctrines and 
fantastic notions, on the mere authority of their word. On the 
contrary, they have insisted that we submit all their instructions 
to the test of our own powers, as enlightened by the Word and the 
Spirit of God — charging us to receive nothing until it should 
commend itself to our highest intellectual and moral perceptions 
as both true and good. And no single principle has been advanced, 
to our present recollection, through months of intimate inter- 
course, either in physical, mental, moral or theological science, 
which has not carried conviction upon its very face to all whose 
hearts were open to its appreciation. Thus they ‘teach as those 
having authority,’ — the authority of self-evident truth, — ‘and 
not as the scribes.’ (Matt. 7 : 29.) 

In short, picture to yourselves your highest conception of what 
it would be to you to walk day by day in conscious intercourse 
with beings of a higher sphere — to listen to their words of 
love, their songs of praise, their teachings of wisdom, purity and 
heavenly truth, their descriptions of the glories of that brighter 
world in which they dwell, — and to feel the hallowing, elevating, 
purifying influence of the realized presence of such pure beings 
shed over all your thoughts and acts — and then you may have 
some idea of what it has been given us to enjoy and to .realize in 
this new dispensation of God’s grace. It is readily confessed that 
we have been dull scholars, and ‘slow of heart to believe,’ else 
our profiting under such teachers would have become more appa- 
rent to all men — but this surely is from no fault on their part, nor 
is it an uncommon one on the part of humanity. We may say, 
however, and we trust it will not be deemed an unseemly boast- 
ing in us, that if we ever experienced the love of God and of man 
shed abroad in our hearts, that love has been quickened, purified, 
intensified — if we ever exercised faith, that faith has been immeas- 
urably strengthened, and rendered a vital principle instead of a 
mere speculative probability — if we ever yearned for purity of 
heart and holiness of life, those yearnings have been stimulated 
and increased — and if we ever have received aid in overcoming 
‘the world, the flesh and the devil,* such aid has been consciously 
imparted to us under these angelic ministrations. Besides all 
this, the miraculous gifts bestowed in attestation of the divine 
authority of the mission of Christ, have also been granted, to 
prove the heavenly origin of this new revelation. The casting out 
of undeveloped demons ; the healing of the sick, the lame, the 
blind, either by instantaneous cure or by more gradual recovery 
under the use of means prescribed by superior direction ; the use 


12 


of unknown tongues, the foretelling of future events, the power 
of discerning or perceiving spirits — all these have been exhibited 
in numerous instances, some under our own observation, in our 
own family, and even through our own instrumentality — and oth- 
ers in well-attested cases, the evidence of which is before the 
public. 

With these frank and truthful statements of our experiences 
before you, we leave it to yourselves to decide whether such influ- 
ences are from above or from beneath — whether such beings are 
angels of purity, or seducing spirits, seeking our destruction. If 
these things be evil, well may we ask, ‘who will show us any good?' 
or teach us to distinguish between good and evil ? If such are the 
‘workings of Satan,’ as many would have us believe, then verily 
hath Satan himself become ‘transformed into an angel of light’- — 
a teacher of purity and of piety — a friend of God and of man ! and 
it is most sincerely to be hoped that all his adherents, on earth or 
elsewhere, may speedily undergo a like transformation ! 

There were those in our Savior’s time, who, notwithstanding his 
holy teachings, and his heavenly purity, and the benevolence of 
his miracles, attributed all to the agency of ‘Beelzebub the prince 
of devils,’ (Matt. 12 : 24) merely because he conformed not in all 
things to the standard ‘orthodoxy’ of the day; and it is no less 
‘blasphemy against the Holy Spirit’ (Matt. 12: 31) to ascribe the 
same manifestations of Divine power and goodness, in our day, 
to the same evil source — a guilt which we should shudder to incur. 
‘By their fruits shall ye know them.’ And if the ‘finger of 
God’ is manifest in these things, then, truly, the ‘kingdom of 
God is come unto’ us. (Matt 12 : 28.) 

But we have as yet said nothing as to the manner in which 
these celestial visitants have manifested their presence, and com- 
municated with us. At first, the only token of unseen agency was 
the production of slight sounds, apparently upon material objects ; 
and these sounds, by indicating letters of the alphabet as pointed 
out, were made to spell words and sentences. This has given 
rise to the term ‘spirit-rappings.’ In a short time, movements 
were made of physical substances, as articles of furniture, &c., 
often with great force. The presence of some person, believed to 
possess a certain peculiarity of physical constitution, was found to 
be necessary for the production of these manifestations. Of 
course, w T e satisfied ourselves at the outset that these things were 
produced by no human contrivance, but by some power operat- 
ing without visible means; and, that it was an intelligent power, 
and not a blind force, was demonstrated by its intelligent results. 
How spirits can thus operate upon matter, we will undertake to 
explain when he who questions their ability to do so, will explain 
how the angels rolled away the stone from the door of the sepul- 
cher, (Matt. 28 : 2,) or how his own mind can act upon the mat- 
ter of his physical body, or how the Omnipotent Mind can operate 
upon, set in motion and control the universe of matter. That it 
is done, in all these cases, is sufficient proof that it can be done. 


13 


As these manifestations have advanced, however, higher and 
more perfect methods of communication have been employed. 
The hand of some person who possesses the proper physical and 
mental requisites, is taken under control by an intelligent power 
foreign to the possessor of it, and thus writing is performed — 
thoughts, sentiments and statements flow from the pen — of which 
the person acting as instrument often has no knowledge or concep- 
tion till his astonished eyes behold them traced on the paper before 
him. Other individuals, of differing physical and mental condi- 
tions, are more easily employed in other ways. Some, on ab- 
stracting their minds, and ceasing their own mental operations, 
find an influence gently controlling their organs of speech, and as 
they yield to its power, words of wonder and thoughts of angelic 
beauty will drop from their lips. Others still, with yet varying 
characteristics, will close their eyes to outward scenes, when their 
interior vision will be opened, and, like Jacob at Bethel, like Ste- 
phen at the stoning, the prophets in their visions, and like many 
persons in the early Christian church, they will ‘see heaven opened,’ 
‘the angels of God ascending and descending,’ listen to the con- 
verse of the celestial visitants and the music of their golden harps, 
and drink in the melodies of the upper spheres. They thus be- 
come instruments or ‘ mediums' of communication between the 
unseen and the less favored around them. And there are yet 
others, who without any outward exhibition or consciousness of 
exterior influence, will have their perceptions quickened, and their 
minds opened. to an unusual influx of suggestions, thoughts and 
convictions, and thus be enabled to speak forth words of wisdom 
and instruction to all who hear. To be a ‘medium,’ then, you 
will perceive, is no cause of reproach or disgrace ; it is only to 
be what prophets, seers, and apostles have been — what .Christ him- 
self was — channels through which Divine light and goodness can 
be poured into the minds of men. 

The above-described are all varying manifestations of spiritual 
influence or inspiration — ‘diversities of gifts from the same spirit’ 
— producing exhibitions of the gift of tongues and the interpreta- 
tion of tongues, of prophecy, of discerning of spirits, of working; mir- 
acles, and of healing the sick — precisely identical with those en- 
joyed in the primitive days of the Christian church, (1 Cor. 13) and 
concerning which there is no hint that they were designed for that 
age alone. They have been lost only as the primitive faith and purity 
of the church have been lost. 

There may be those who will question the power of disembod- 
ied spirits thus to control the hands, the brain, and the organs of 
speech, of living persons; but those who believe in demoniacal 
possession, of which so many cases are stated in the New Testa- 
ment, cannot consistently do so. If spirits of a low character 
possess this power, why should not the more exalted use it also 
for worthy purposes ? And those who are at all acquainted with 
the phenomena of late years developed under the names of Mes- 
merism, Pathetism, Biology, and the rest, must be familiar with 


14 


the fact that minds in the body can and often do exercise the sam e 
power of control over the organisms of impressible persons. Have not 
minds out of the body, and possessed of a more intimate knowl- 
edge of the relations of body and spirit, at least equal abilities ? 

But some to whom this whole subject is new, will ask, Is it not 
possible that after all you may be mistaken or deceived? — that this 
is all the creation of a diseased imagination, or a ‘strong delusion’ 
from the adversary of good? It might be sufficient to ask in reply, 
which is the more probable, that we should be mistaken or deluded, 
after so elaborate an investigation, and so full an experience, or 
that those who have not opened their eyes to the light should be 
ignorant of the realities that surround them ? Who is best quali- 
fied to testify of the beauties and glories of the natural world — of 
‘the sun shining in his strength,’ and of the earth robed in loveliness 
— he who has shut himself up in a dungeon, and bandaged his eyes 
to prevent the admission of a single ray of light, or he who walks 
abroad andenjoys the full exercise of his senses ? ‘We speak that 
we do know, and testify that we have seen ,’ and why should you 
not receive the witness of those in whose integrity and veracity you 
would confide on all other subjects, as well as the testimony of 
persons who lived eighteen hundred years ago, and of whom you 
know and can know nothing personally? Were we alone in these 
convictions, we might speak with less positiveness; but there are 
hundreds of honest, upright, pure-minded people in this city, thou- 
sands in the State, and hundreds of thousands in this favored land, 
who within the past few months have passed through similar ex- 
periences, have been compelled to the same conclusions, and now 
rejoice in the same glorious light. Or, were these convictions 
merely speculative opinions, having their origin in our own minds, 
it would become us to announce them with less emphasis and assur- 
ance. But ‘our faith does not stand in the wisdom of men, but in 
the power of God.’ These revelations are not the speculations of 
a conceited philosophy, but have come attested by ‘demonstrations 
of the spirit and of pow er,’ fully as convincing, for aught that we 
can see, as any that were ever granted to man. 

We have endeavored to be fully informed in regard to all at- 
tempts made to explain these things on different grounds than those 
we have indicated. So far as we are aware, there are but three 
individuals who have written with any effect against the view we 
have been compelled to adopt. These are Dr. Rogers, of this city, 
in his late elaborate work entitled the ‘Philosophy of Mysterious 
Agents Dr. Richmond, of Ohio, in a recent discussion with S. 
B. Brittan, published in the ‘Spiritual Telegraph;’ and Rev. Chas. 
Beecher, of Newark, in his report before the Congregational Asso- 
ciation of New York and Brooklyn. 

The first, Dr. Rogers, would refer the whole phenomena, (or 
rather such facts as he has investigated and is willing to admit — for 
it is doubtful if the.higher developments to which we have referred 
have come under his notice) to human and mundane causes, utter- 


15 


ly denying the agency of disembodied spirits in any degree. He 
would have us attribute all these exhibitions of angelic love, of hea- 
enly wisdom, of profound and far-reaching intellect, — all these 
creations of poetic beauty — all these developments of the Great 
Father’s wisdom and power and love, — all these incitements to 
purity, holiness and progress — to what do you imagine 1 — To the 
mere unconscious automatic action of the brain of the person through 
whom they are given ! — the mere play of some of the cerebral or- 
gans, under the stimulus perhaps of a physical irritant, but without 
direct aid or control of mind, either in or out of the body ! Even 
the foretelling of future events, with the greatest accuracy and pre- 
cision, and the speaking in unknown tongues, he disposes of in 
the same extraordinary manner ; while other phenomena are re- 
ferred to other equally inadequate causes. Of such philosophy we 
need only remark here, that it but the more thoroughly mystifies 
what it attempts to explain, and assumes vastly more incredible 
miracles than those it professes to elucidate. And more than 
this, if the Dr.’s philosophy does account, by merely human and 
mundane causes, for the phenomena we have witnessed and expe- 
rienced, it does the same for all similar manifestations in all past 
days— for it is utterly absurd to suppose that what is now done 
by merely human and earthly agencies, was eighteen hundred years 
ago performed by angelic interposition or Divine power. Thus has 
this writer, in order to overthrow the claims of the new dispensa- 
tion, dug out what is esteemed the very corner-stone of the Chris- 
tian faith, and utterly demolished its supposed miraculous founda- 
tion. — And in this work, too, he has had the sanction and endorse- 
ment of many, if not most, of our religious journals, not to say of our 
pulpits also! Thus is the issue distinctly presented, between spir- 
itualism and the ministry of angels, on the one hand, and skepti- 
cism, materialism, if not downright atheism on theother,and strange 
to say, the vast majority of our religious teachers seem to prefer 
the philosophy which leads to the latter ! 

Dr. Richmond has undertaken to dispose of these manifestations 
of spirit-agency on substantially the same grounds as Dr. Rogers. 
They are all, in his view, the results of the operation of mental and 
physical forces hitherto unknown or little understood. But this 
writer has the consistency and the courage boldly to avow, that all 
the manifestations of former times, including those recorded in the 
Bible, and on which its Divine authority is usually based, were 
produced by the same causes. Accordingly he considers Jesus 
Christ to have been a mere magician , and that he differed from 
other magicians only in this, that he ‘conceived the sublime and 
benevolent idea of regenerating the entire race by wielding them 
through this channel,’ though ‘whether he clearly discerned the phi- 
losophy of his system is doubtful.’ H|e believes that Christ instruct- 
ed his apostles in the same magic arts he himself practiced, and they 
in turn transmitted them to others, all the while pretending them to 
be ‘gifts of the spirit !’ He asserts that the appearances of angels 
or spirits to the apostles and others were mere mental reflections of 


16 


images existing in their own minds, and their supposed words the 
results of magnetic mental impression ! (Sp. Telegraph, Mar. 5.) 

“0 star-eyed Science! hast thou wandered there. 

To waft us back the message of despair 1” 

Behold then the inevitable results of a denial of modern spiritual 
manifestations !— the unavoidable conclusions of modern material- 
ism » — And if Drs. Rogers and Richmond, with all their science, 
research, acuteness and ingenuity, can furnish only such a solution 
of these mysteries, aside from the confession of spirit-agency, who 
next will venture upon the task ? 

The remaining alternative is that presented in the Review of Rev. 
Mr. Beecher, as the result of his investigations of these phenomena. 
He concedes that the manifestations are not the product of mere jug- 
gle or imposture — that they do not originate in the action of elec- 
tricity, magnetism, or any other physical force — that they are not 
caused by the unconscious or involuntary mental action of persons 
in the body — but that they are really caused by the spirits of depart- 
ed human beings. He concludes that the movement ‘is essentially 
one with the demonic possession whereof the Gospels often speak — 
that is, the control and use of the bodily organs of the living, by 
human spirits, incorrectly termed “devils” in our English version 
of the scriptures.’ 

This position, remarkable as it is, is unquestionably correct 
as regards a great portion of the manifestations which have been 
made in various parts of the country ; and you will not fail to 
notice certain important results which must inevitably follow from 
it — namely, that the spirits of the departed, bad as well as good, 
instead of being shut away in some distant corner of the universe, 
as many imagine, are still about us, capable of influencing us, and 
communicating with us ; while the ‘devils,’ which have been so 
long the bugbears of the Christian world, and especially of those 
who have undertaken to investigate this subject, are suddenly 
transformed, as by a touch of Ithuriel’s spear, into their true 
characters, namely, the departed spirits of men , some of whom are 
ignorant and wicked! And as is natural to suppose, spirits of the 
latter class manifest the same ignorance, the same love of folly and 
deception, and the same aversion to good, that characterize beings 
of similar grades in this life. 

The conclusion, however, of the Rev. gentleman, that all who 
communicate are of this character, is somewhat doubtfully stated, 
and still more doubtfully maintained. He admits that the claims 
of some of them to a heavenly mission, as attested by miracles of 
benevolence and doctrines of wisdom, are ‘forcibly wdelded, with in- 
genuity, candor, popular adaptation, and success,’ and urges that 
they be met with ‘kindly courtesy,’ ‘respect and Christian consid- 
eration ;’ while the only arguments with w T hich he opposes these 
claims, seem to be addressed, like those of the Jewish doctors of 
old, to the prejudices of men. ‘Search and look ; for out of Gali- 
lee ariseth no prophet.’ (Jn. 7: 52.) His evidences that they are 


17 


all ‘evil,’ and ‘under the guidance of some one mind of fathomless 
ability, and fathomless guile,’ rest not on any exhibitions of intrin- 
sic immorality or obvious impiety, but simply on the assumption 
that the popular ‘orthodox’ interpretation of certain speculative 
Christian doctrines is the only true interpretation ; and that the 
Bible, as thus interpreted, forms an immutable standard of Divine 
Authority. He has not one word to show wherein the ‘ authority ’ 
of communications given to men in ages gone by, — some of which 
have been compiled and included in the volume called the Bible, — 
is in any respect superior to that of revelations given in our own 
day, through precisely the same agencies, attested by similar out- 
ward miracles, and bearing to the reason and the conscience of men 
vastly higher internal evidence of Divine wisdom and goodness. 

For ourselves, therefore, we feel obliged to say that we cannot 
look back upon the pure and heavenly instructions we have received, 
and declare, ‘These are the words of him that hath a devil,’ with- 
out incurring the guilt of blasphemy against the Holy Ghost. We 
“cannot believe them ‘evil,’ without doing violence to our clearest 
perceptions of the distinction between good and evil — without 
utterly negativing the voice of reason and of conscience — with- 
out reversing and falsifying the word of Christ, ‘a corrupt tree can- 
not bring forth good fruit’ — without regarding God as utterly faith- 
less to His promises, and believing that when we ask bread He 
will give a stone; when we ask a fish He will give a scorpion;, when 
we ask truth He will give a lie ; when we ask wisdom, lie will send 
only folly and delusion — without, in fact, believing that the Al- 
mighty has abandoned man to the power of the adversary, and 
that evil alone reigns omnipotent on earth. 

We have spoken strongly — but it is from strong convictions, 
founded on the strongest of evidences. 

’ Can any one ask, after such a presentation of this subject, (as 
many have asked,) ‘Of what use is this spiritual intercourse, even 
though real?’ If this question comes from those who have already 
learned all they expect or wish to know, or, in their view, all there 
is to be known, of God’s truth or His universe, it is useless to an- 
swer it — for the force of an answer would fail to be appreciated, and 
‘casting pearls before swine’ is an unprofitable employment lor all 
concerned. But those who are yet capable of learning something 
more, who have ‘become as little children’ in the kingdom of Christ, 
who do not feel themselves to have yet arrived at the summit of all 
human attainments, and who expect to advance and expand as they 
drink in the unfolding wonders of a universe of truth, beauty and 
love, through the countless years of eternity — such will perceive at 
once the advantages to be derived from communion with those who 
have passed on to a higher life. W e esteem it the greatest of privile- 
ges to be permitted to associate intimately with the wise and good, 
the exalted and the learned, of earth — to drink in instruction from 
their lips, and goodness from their hearts. And is it not a privi- 
lege vastly more to be coveted, to have free converse with those 
minds who have arisen to a broader field of vision, who drink from 


18 


a purer fount of wisdom, and who have attained a higher rank of 
goodness than is known to earth 1 Surely those who are engaged 
in the study of the scriptures — who find therein ‘things hard to be 
understood,’ and feel the need of ‘some man to guide’ them as they 
read (Acts 8: 30, 31,) — who have made use of all human aids 
within their reach only to find often amid the conflicting opinions 
of men still increasing doubt and perplexity — surely such should 
hail the approach of teachers who can ‘speak what they know and 
testify what they have seen,’ with joy and gratitude unspeakable. 

Moreover, is it of no use to have answered, beyond all cavil or 
doubt, that world-old query of the human soul, ‘If a man die, 
shall he live again V In these evidences of spiritual existence we 
have a demonstration of the reality of a future life, which many 
even of the sternest and boldest rejectors of scripture authority 
have not been able to gainsay or resist. 

And more than all, is it not of some value to all of us to find a 
relief to that longing of the spirit toward the ‘loved and lost’ — that 
yearning of the affections to know where and how exist those dear 
ones who have been snatched ffom our view, and borne beyond our 
ken ! 

“The dead! the much-loved dead! 

Who doth not yearn to know 
The secret of their dwelling-place. 

And to what land they go'! 

What heart but asks, with ceaseless tone 
For some sure knowledge of its own'!” 

To those who have been enabled to receive full conviction of the 
reality of intercourse with the departed, these heart-yearnings have 
been fully and gloriously answered. Death to them is truly ‘swal- 
lowed up in victory !’ A ‘new heaven’ is over them, and a ‘new 
earth’ beneath their feet ; ‘all tears are wiped from their eyes,’ and 
they realize the fulfilment of that promise, ‘there shall be no 
more death, neither sorrow nor crying ; for the former things are 
passed away.’ (Rev. 21: 4.)] 


You may well suppose that in this course of experience and in- 
struction which has been described to you, we have learned some 
truths which we did not know before, and that we have been com- 
pelled to unlearn some things which we had once received as 
truths. Nor should it surprise you, or at least such of you as 
have been in the habit of investigating for yourselves the grounds 
of your belief, if we have found ourselves unable to make the 
broader and higher views which have been presented to our con- 
victions, in all respects harmonize with the systems of religious phi- 
losophy and the formularies of faith which men have constructed. 
For who that has ventured to think, has not felt that there were 
points in the popular theological systems, that, to say the least, need 
confirmation? So broad a field, however, has been opened before 
us by these instructions — stretching into the domain of physical 
and mental, as well as moral and spiritual science — that we can 


19 


convey to you in this communication no adequate idea of their 
general import. We can only, in accordance with the design 
frankly stated at the commencement of this letter, touch upon 
some points wherein our present convictions may be thought to 
run counter to the generally received standards of orthodoxy, and 
in maintaining which we desire not to take any unfair advantage 
of our supposed good standing with you. 

And, first, we would say, that the universe now appears to us 
to be governed under the great eternal law of Progression — that 
throughout all forms of matter, and all grades of life, and all or- 
ders of created intelligences, there is an unceasing progress of 
development — advancement from low to high, from high to high- 
er and still higher gradations of quality, condition, capacity and 
enjoyment — in never-ceasing approximation towards the boundless 
perfections, the glory inconceivable, and the joy unutterable of 
the Great Original. ‘For of Him, and through Him, and to 
Him are all things — to whom be glory forever.’ (Rom. 11 : 36.) 

Passing by the countless and varied illustrations of this law 
presented in all the forms of matter and of life around and below 
us, we will speak only of its bearings upon man as an individual 
and as a race. 

That man as a race has been placed under the operation of thi3 
law, is evident from all we know of his past history and present 
condition. We are all aware that this age of enlightenment, of 
science, of civilization, of the useful arts, and of the compara- 
tive reign of reason, benevolence and justice, has been reached on- 
ly by successive steps from the lowest conditions of barbarism, 
ignorance and savageness. And even those individuals who in 
their times have stood in some respects preeminent over their fel- 
lows, are now seen to have been on the whole greatly below our 
highest idea of human perfection. 

This law has been recognized and acted upon in all the commu- 
nications and revelations of Himself which God has made to the 
race. The rays which shone upon man during the patriarchal 
dispensation were few and feeble ; yet they were all he was able 
to bear, or that his condition demanded. Under Moses the light 
was measurably increased, and also through successive stages, un- 
der the ministration of seers and prophets, until Christ came, 
and ‘brought life and immortality to light,’ pouring a flood of 
heavenly truth on the expanding intellect and heart of man. 
But even Christ had ‘many things’ to teach which the most 
enlightened of his day ‘could not bear,’ and he left them to be 
communicated by ‘the Spirit of Truth,’ who should ‘abide for- 
ever’ with his followers, guiding them ‘into all truth,’ as they 
should be prepared to receive it, and showing them ‘things to 
come.’ (John 16: 12, 13. 14: 16, 17.) And no one will pre- 
tend that either the race, or any part of it, has yet arrived at its 
highest stage of advancement, or its highest capacity for receiv- 
ing truth. 

On the contrary, all that is made known respecting the future 


20 


condition of mankind on earth, tends only the more fully to devel- 
op and establish this law of progression. That a state of immeas- 
urable improvement is to be reached, in all that concerns the out- 
ward, physical life of man, is fully evident both from what we see 
transpiring before our eyes from year to year, and from the glow- 
ing predictions concerning the ‘latter days’ which so abound in the 
prophetic scriptures. Not only is man to advance in knowledge 
of the means by which he can subjugate the forces of nature to 
his use, but there is to be a corresponding progressin the develop- 
ments and productions of nature herself. ‘ Instead of the 
thorn shall come up the fir-tree, and instead of the briar shall come 
up the myrtle-tree.’ (Isa. 55 : 13.) ‘The desert shall rejoice 
and blossom as the rose. For in the wilderness shall waters break 
out, and streams in the desert.’ (Isa. 35 : 1, 6.) ‘And they 
shall build houses and inhabit them ; and they shall plant vine- 
yards, and eat the fruit of them ; . . . . and mine elect shall long 
enjoy the work of their hands. They shall not labor in vain, nor 
bring forth for trouble,’ neither shall there be any ravenous beast 
or poisonous reptile to ‘hurt or destroy in all the holy mountain.’ 
(Isa. 65 : 21 — 25. 11 : .6, 9.) Man shall so understand and obey 
the laws of his being that ‘the inhabitant shall not say I am sick;’ 
(Isa. 33 : 24) and ‘there shall be no more death, neither sorrow 
nor crying ; neither shall there be any more pain.” (Rev. 21 : 
4.) ‘For behold I create new heavens and a new earth ; and the 
former shall not be remembered nor come into mind . ’ (Isa. 65 : 17 . ) 

But man’s moral and spiritual development are also to keep 
pace with his physical and intellectual. And instead of there be- 
ing here and there one or two in an age specially raised up and 
qualified, as seers, prophets, apostles or teachers, to be the me- 
diums through whom God’s truth can be communicated to the 
race, all shall become so advanced that they will have no need of 
such mediumship on the part of others. ‘After those days, saith 
the Lord, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in 
their hearts ; and will be their God, and they shall be my people. 
And they shall no more teach every man his neighbor, and every 
man his brother, saying, Know the Lord ; for they shall all know 
me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the 
Lord.’ (Jer. 31: 33, 34. Heb. 8: 10, 11.) Then shall have 
fully come the ‘Kingdom of God,’ for which we daily pray. Then 
shall His ‘will be done on earth as it is done in heaven.’ But 
that this result is to be brought about by the gradual operation 
of adequate causes, rather than by any instantaneous putting forth 
of Divine power, agrees with all we know of God’s method of ad- 
vancing His kingdom. There must be ‘first the blade, then the 
ear; afterwards the full corn in the ear.’ The leaven is to ex- 
tend gradually, until the whole mass is pervaded. (Luke 13 : 
21.) ‘For as the earth bringeth forth her buds , and as the gar- 
den causeth the things that are sopm in it to spring forth ; so the 
Lord God will cause righteousness and praise to spring forth be- 
fore all the nations.’ (Isa. 61 : 11.) 


21 


# Bat this all-pervading law of progression bears upon each indi- 
vidual as well as upon the race. Every being that has been or 
will be brought into existence is the subject of it, and under its 
operation makes some advancement during the earthly life. This 
advancement respects, first, the physical, then the mental, moral 
and spiritual nature ; and under the process, as affected by consti- 
tutional organization, circumstances, advantages, and disposition 
to make use of advantages, we see exhibited around us every con- 
ceivable gradation of attainment in knowledge, wisdom, goodness 
and happiness. The l eviV that we see in man arises only from 
an imperfect or incomplete development of what was made to be, 
and what will be when completed, ‘ good .’ (Gen. 3: 31.) 

That this process of development is confined to the earthly 
life, we see no reason to believe ; but that, on the contrary, after 
the spirit has thrown off the earthly tenement, and arisen to a 
higher form of life, it must still continue to advance, seems to be 
inevitable from the law of its constitution. Moreover, we find no 
evidence, either from reason, from scripture rightly interpreted, or 
from the nature of God, that He will withhold from any soul, in 
the future life, the means or opportunity of advancement. The 
Father’s paternal heart yearns after the repentant, returning prodi- 
gal, whenever and wherever he repents and returns; and the time 
shall come when all His wandering offspring — ‘for we are also His 
offspring’ (Acts 17 : 28) — shall come back to the Father’s House 
— when ‘all things shall be subdued unto Him .... that 
God may be all in all.’ (1 Cor. 15 : 28.) 

A most important step in individual progression, and one which 
is taken alike by all, is the casting off of the earthly body, and the 
arising to a higher form of life in the spirit-world. This is the 
scripture doctrine of the ‘ resurrection ’ — it was clearly taught by 
Christ and his apostles — but it has become strangely misunder- 
stood and perverted throughout all Christendom. That doctrine 
is, — not that ages hence, when these physical bodies shall have 
crumbled into dust, and been resolved into their original elements, 
and entered into the constituents of other human bodies, perhaps 
many times over, — that then our spirits, which have been all this 
time we know not where, shall be brought back and re-united 
with the gathered particles of matter with which they were once 
associated, then to arise to the higher life, — it is no such crude, 
contradictory and impossible speculation ; — but it is plainly 
this, that the resurrection in all cases shortly succeeds the death of 
the body — that ‘the dead are raised,’ and the process has been 
and is constantly going forward under the great universal law that 
evolves the plant from the seed, the butterfly from the worm, the 
spiritual body from the physical. 

That this was the teaching of Christ is evident from his argument 
with the Sadducees : ‘Now that the dead are raised’ [not shall 
he], ‘even Moses showed at the bush, when he calleth the Lord the 
God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob ; for 
He is not'a God of the dead but of the living ; for all live unto Him.* 


22 


(Luke 20 : 37, 38.) How does this argument prove the doctrine 
of the resurrection, unless Christ means to assert that Abraham, 
Isaac and Jacob were ‘living,’ at the time of Moses, in the resur- 
rection-state ? Nothing can be more evident than that such is his 
meaning ; and if the patriarchs had been raised to a state of equali- 
ty with and likeness to the angels (Luke 20 : 36. Mark 12 : 25. 
Matt. 22 : 30), so had been all other men who had died. 

So taught Paul in his letter to the Corinthians, making indeed 
the resurrection of Christ himself to be in accordance with and de- 
pendent upon this universal law. ‘For if the dead rise not, 
THEN IS NOT CHRIST RAISED.’ (1 Cor. 15 t 16, &C.) 

But some will say, How are the dead raised up 1 and with what 
body do they come ? This identical question was asked and fully 
answered eighteen hundred years ago ; but how strangely blind 
have we been to the meaning of that answer ! If the apostle 
termed him a ‘fool’ who made the inquiry, what would he have 
thought of us who have failed for so long to comprehend the re- 
ply 1 He points to the natural world, ever teeming with its my- 
riad transformations and resurrections before our eyes, and bids us 
view the process there. When we deposit the grain of seed in 
the earth, it is not that same grain which is to come up again in 
the new plant — ‘thou so west not that body that shall be ;’ — but 
the germ, the life-principle encased within, this springs up, un- 
folds in a new life, and develops a new creation of beauty. So the 
germ, the life-principle, the spirit or ‘spiritual body’ of man 
emerges from its clayey tenement into an incorruptible, spiritual 
existence. ‘For there is a natural [physical] body, and there is 
a spiritual body — the physical being first developed, afterwards 
he spiritual. ‘For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and 
this mortal put on immortality. . . . And then shall be brought to 
pass the saying that is written, ‘Death is swallowed up in victory 1* 
(1 Cor. 15 : 36—54.) 

Such, then, we conceive to be the true Christian doctrine 
of the resurrection. Who does not see that it is natural, ration- 
al, beautiful, glorious ! — worthy the preeminence assigned to it 
by the founders of Christianity, ana worthy the great Author 
by whose power it is wrought 1 

The transformation, however, can no more change the mental 
or moral character of the man, nor alter his relations to God and 
the universe, than does the casting off of a worn-out garment — 
except so far as it shall place him under the reach of new and 
more powerful external influences, which may be good or evil, 
tending upward or downward, according to his affinities and aspi- 
rations. Hence it is that we find indubitable evidence of the same 
gradations of character and attainment, both mental and moral, 
in the spirit-world, that are exhibited in this world ; hence the vari- 
ety of opinion, the contrariety of statement, and the evident want 
of wisdom on the part of many who have undertaken to commu- 
nicate to men ; and hence, also, the absolute necessity of purity 
of motive, simplicity of heart, and an earnest desire for the wis- 


23 


dom which is from above on the part of those who would attract 
to them teachers of exalted wisdom and goodness. 

Having said thus much of the great law of progression, we 
would glance at what appears to be the chief instrumentality 
through which spiritual advancement is carried forward. That 
God works by means, or instrumentalities, in all His operations, in 
all departments of the universe, agrees with all that we know 
of His method of working. Hoes he sustain our physical life and 
health ? — He does it by means of food, air, and other conditions, 
either of which being wanting, life or health will cease. Does 
he give us our daily bread ? — It is done, not by His own hand 
extended to place it in our mouths, but through the operation of a 
chain of instruments which prepare and supply it to us. So if 
He sustains our spiritual life, and works in us to advance and per- 
fect it, He does it by instrumentalities ; and among those instru- 
mentalities are spiritual beings — ‘angels who excel in strength,* 
‘ministers of His who do His pleasure’ — appointed to be the chan- 
nels of communication between our spirits and the Infinite Fountain 
from whence emanate all life and love. ‘Are they not all ministering 
spirits, sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salva- 
tion?’ (Heb. 1: 14.) 

But who are these ‘angels,’ and what are their relations to us? 
Are they a distinct and higher order of intelligences, having no 
affinities or relationship with man ? or are they human spirits, the 
spirits of ‘just men made perfect,’ our ‘elder brothers,’ exalted to 
a higher sphere of usefulness, and still actively employed as mes- 
sengers of the Highest, in doing His will? We answer unhesita- 
tingly, the latter ; and again we appeal to the scriptures to bear 
testimony to this most interesting truth. Jesus declared to the 
Sadducees that in the resurrection-state, men become ‘as the an- 
gels of God’ (Matt. 22 : 30) — ‘as the angels which are in heaven’ 
(Mark 12 : 25) — ‘ equal unto the angels.’ (Luke 20 : 36.) Being 
made, in the present rudimental form, ‘a little lower than the an- 
gels’ (Ps. 8 : 5), we are, in that next stage of our being, advanced 
to an equality of grade with them; and ‘if like them, why 
should we not be engaged in like employment?’ This question 
will not be new to your ears — it having been propounded 
from our own pulpit, by our own pastor, not many weeks since.* 
Moreover, angels who have appeared on earth have always ap- 
peared in the human form ; and Daniel, in the passages to which 
we have already referred, repeatedly terms those who were sent 
unto him, ‘men,’ not excepting Gabriel himself, whom he calls 
‘the man Gabriel.’ (9: 21.) But there is one other passage, already 
quoted, which is sufficient to place this matter in a most unques- 
tionable light, namely, the direct avowal of the angel who com- 
municated to John the revelations of the Apocalypse — ‘I am thy 
fellow-servant, and of thy brethren the prophets.’ (Rev. 
22 : 9.) 

It seems probable therefore, that with the exception, perhaps, of 

♦Rev. Mr. Pond’s recent discourse on the “Ministry of Angels.” 


24 


Christ, the exalted Mediator, no any other beings have ever been 
employed in communicating with our earth, than human spirits, 
raised to higher degrees of intelligence, purity and power. Ar.d 
who so likely to be employed in this ministry of love to each of 
us, as those who have been here united to us by the ties of affini- 
ty, relationship and affection 1 They have loved to serve and to 
bless us while in the body — can they have become cold and in- 
different, wrapped themselves in selfishness and retired to seek 
only their own enjoyment, now that they have entered a higher 
and purer sphere 1 Who can believe this 1 — or that, still yearn- 
ing over, and seeking to minister unto the objects of their affection, 
they are debarred from a source of happiness so pure and God- 
like, wdiile another race of beings, having no sympathies in com- 
mon with us, are appointed to the service! Such may be man’s 
theology, but such is not God’s wisdom. He has made love the 
golden chain which binds the universe of beings to Ilis glorious 
throne. We are made, by the law of nature and of God, the 
guardians and instructors of those who stand in the relation of 
children or dependents to us, and it is our duty and delight to 
minister to their wants, and to aid and guide the unfoldings of 
their being. There are those more advanced who stand in the same 
relations to ourselves, have the same affections, and still perform 
the same duties. And above these, again, is a higher grade, still 
farther advanced in knowledge, purity and bliss, which they de- 
light to transmit to those below — and thus on, and on, in an indis- 
soluble chain of love, running up through all generations of men, 
and through all grades of advancement, till it links into the be- 
ing of Him from whom all life and being sprang ! 

Thus is formed an unbroken channel through which flow out 
from the exhaustless Fountain the treasures of life, truth, wisdom 
and goodness, imparting bliss and purity as they flow, to all grades 
of intelligences, according to the capacity or degree of expansion of 
each, till they reach the remotest rudimental conditions of being. 
Hence it is seen that inspiration, or the communication of truth and 
wisdom from above, is both natural and universal ; and that it 
comes in varying degrees of purity and fullness, as modified by the 
channel through which it comes, and the capacities of the vessel 
into which it is poured. We are not then to look for it only in 
here and there an individual in ages by-gone, or in the pages of 
one book, or one set of books, written centuries ago and never to 
be extended — but all truth is God’s truth, all created things 
are His Book, and all light is from ‘the Father of Lights .... 
from whom cometh down every good and every perfect gift.’ 
(James 1 : 17.) 

There are many other points on which our eyes have been opened 
to, as we think, a higher view and a clearer vision than we enter- 
tained before ; but it will be impossible to present them adequate- 
ly to your minds in a communication like this. We would frankly 
say, however, that we wish no longer to be considered as bound 


25 


to any particular view of truth, or any form of its expression— -for 
we feel that as yet we have caught but the few first beams of a glo- 
rious day now dawning, whose light shall be such as earth has 
never yet seen. Like dwellers in the shady valley, who have begun 
to ascend the mountains that before had limited their view, and are 
enabled to take in a wider range of vision, we see those eminences 
of truth which once seemed the very pillars of heaven, overtopped 
by others before hidden from view, but of still greater magnitude, 
and the whole landscape assumes a new appearance. Thus we ex- 
pect the view will continue to change and to enlarge as we ascend, 
and we know not what heights are yet before us. For ‘it shall 
come to pass in the last days, that the mountain of the Lord’s 
house shall be established in the top of the mountains, and shall 
be exalted above the hills ; and all nations shall flow unto it.’ (Isa. 
2: 3.) These ‘last days/ so long predicted, we believe are now 
dawning upon the world. Let us then, ‘leaving the principles 
[the first things] of the doctrine of Christ, go on to perfection.’ 
(Heb. 6: 1.) Let us no longer imagine that ‘only in this moun- 
tain’ of our former limited conceptions we can acceptably ‘wor- 
ship the Father/ but every where in the broad realm of truth, and 
under the glowing sunlight of His love, and in the high and pure 
atmosphere breathed around us by angelic beings, let us bow, and 
rejoice, and adore. For we ‘are come unto mount Zion, and unto 
the city of the Living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an in- 
numerable company of angels ; to the general assembly of the 
church of the first-born, and to the spirits of just men made per- 
fect ; to Jesus the Mediator of the new covenant, and to God the 
Judge of all.’ (Heb. 12: 22 — 24.) Yes, dear brothers and sisters, 
‘this day are these scriptures fulfilled in you ears ;’ and it is your 
privilege as well as ours to know and to realize the fact. We feel 
that so great blessings cannot be ours alone to enjoy. We know, 
from evidence, unmistakable to us, though imperceptible to you, that 
there are those among your number who may speedily be made 
sensible, in their own persons, of those ‘manifestations of the spirit’ 
which existed in the primitive days of the church, (1 Cor. 12 — 
14.) and whose recent developments we have described to 
you ; and thus may we enjoy a true ‘outpouring of the Spirit,’ with 
visible demonstrations of His power as miraculous and convincing 
as ever were granted to the church — yea, greater even than those. 
Suffer us, then with all proper humility, but with all earnestness, 
to exhort you to heed the apostolic injunctions, so apposite to this 
matter : ‘Quench not the spirit ; despise not prophesyings ; prove 
all things ; hold fast that which is good’ (1 Thess. 5: 19 — 21); and 
to ‘beware lest that come upon you which is spoken of in the pro- 
phets : Behold, ye despisers, and wonder, and perish ; for I work a 
work in your days, a work which ye shall in no wise believe, 
though a man declare it unto you.’ (Acts 13: 40, 41.) 

We are fully aware that we have presented before you strange 
and startling things ; but they are* no more strange and startling 
to you than they have been to us. We doubt not that some of the 


26 


sentiments advanced will, at the first view, seem to be wide 
departures from the true faith, if not utterly subversive of the very 
foundations of all religion. We have shared with you all these 
imaginings, and can fully sympathize with your fears. But you 
will remember that it has been the fate of every new truth, or 
rather of every truth when newly developed to mankind, to meet 
with the same objections, and to be compelled to force its way into 
.the convictions of men in spite of their theological systems and 
their accustomed 'interpretations of scripture. Thus was it with 
Christianity itself ; and thus with its revival under the name of Pro- 
testantism, in the days of the Reformers. Thus has it been with 
the developments of Astronomy, Physiology, Phrenology, and lat- 
terly Geology. Each in its turn has been anathematized as the 
enemy of revelation and the foe of true religion. But each has 
become demonstrated truth, and then it has been found an easy 
matter for theologians to adjust their religious philosophy and them 
scripture interpretations to these truths. The same process will 
continue to be required, till men shall see the folly of attempting 
to confine their expanding natures within the infantile garments of 
the past, or to crowd a universe of truth into the meagre limits of 
a creed. 

But we cannot expect you at once to perceive these truths as we 
see them. It has cost us many months of investigation, of earnest 
thought, of agonizing prayer, and of painful struggles against the 
advancing light ; and we can well afford to allow you at least an 
equal amount of time. Indeed, it will be no matter of surprise 
should you judge us to have become apostates from the truth, and 
unworthy of your continued fellowship, or of the Christian name. 
Yet much as we should regret the interruption of the fraternal re- 
lations which have subsisted between us, there is another thing 
which we should still more regret, and that is, being compelled to 
stifle the deepest and most earnest convictions of our souls, and to 
withhold from our fellow men the ‘glad tidings of great joy’ which 
have been sounded in our ears. And even though the fate awaited 
us which in former days was the portion of all who were so fortu- 
nate (or wnfortunate) as to be made the recipients of a truth not 
recognized in the canons of the church — even though the dungeon, 
the rack and the faggot were staring us in the face — we could only 
say with Luther as he stood before his persecutors , ‘May God help 

US : WE CAN SPEAK NO OTHERWISE.’ 

In conclusion, therefore, we feel in duty bound to request a re- 
lease from all obligations or limitations, either expressed or im- 
plied in our relationship with you, which are inconsistent with the 
views and convictions herein laid before you, or with whatever truths 
may yet be opened before us in our ascending life and the unfolding 
universe of God. 

Yours in the love of Christ, 

and the light of the New Dispensation, 

A. E. NEWTON, 

S. J. NEWTON. 






























































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LIBRARY' OF CONGRESS 




020 918 626 3 

Notices of the ‘Letter to the Edwards wiurcji. 


a 




“The book is very clearly and logically written, and abounds with scriptural 
texts and references sustaining the position the authors take.” — Boston Post. 

“It is written in an earnest spirit, and with much ability.” — Boston Journal. 

“We have enjoyed the pleasure of personal acquaintance with the authors of 
this ‘Letter’ for a number of yeais,and therefore are prepared to receive whatever 
they may offer relative to the much mooted subject of ‘spiritual manifestations’ 
with a respect commensurate with their high character for truth, sincerity, and 
deep religious conscientiousness. Mr. Newton is a gentleman of fine abilities and 
attainments, who has been long associated, in different forms, with the Press. — 
11 is lady is a woman of equally elevated character. The supposition, therefore, 
that either of the parties could be deceived, deluded, or imposed upon— that they 
would seek to impose upon the credulity of the community by any fabricatious of 
their own or others— or that they were any more liable than the most worthy, in- 
telligent, or practical, to imposture, by themselves or through the agency of oth- 
ers is altogether untenable. We are thus prepared to take what they say as the 

utterance of truthful, conscientious, religious persons, of the soundest orthodox 
faith; and though expressing no opinion as to the revelations— because, of our- 
selves, we know nothing of the subject— are willing to accept them as opening 
glimpses of a new and wonderful science which many deeply feel is dawning upon 
mankind.” — Boston Commonwealth. 

“The writer of this Letter, Mr. Newton, defends the spirit-theory, and if his 
brethren in the church can answer him to their own satisfaction, let them do so. 
lie has made an able defence of his belief, in courteous and Christian language. — 
So. Boston Gazette. 

“For clear and forcible logic, candor, and expanded and progressive views, we 
have seldom seen it equalled.” — True Flag. 

“It is written by Mr. Newton, a few years since a resident of this city, and a 
gentleman in whose judgment and integrity all who know him will not hesitate to 
confide. . . . We have not been prepared to receive the ‘spiritual’ theory, but we 
are as little disposed to sneer at or slight such testimony as this. We can only 
say of Mr. Newton’g experience and belief, that they are most pure and comfort- 
ing ones.” — Portland Transcript. 

“It is the most candid work on this subject that we have ever seen, and treats 
of it in a manner worthy the consideration of all who wish to investigate its mer- 
its.” — Lowell American. 

“A most admirably written, pertinent, lucid, candid and convincing defence of 
the authors’ faith in spirit-manifestations. I have seen nothing equal to it, on 
this subject, within such narrow limits.”— Practical Christian. 

A gentleman, who for fifteen years was an Orthodox Clergyman, and who is still 
in good standing in his denomination, writes as follows: 

. “I can hardly suppress my desire to congratulate yourself and wife upon this 
precious accession of light and love. Although myself hitherto an entire skeptic 
in regard to this so-called ‘Spiritualism,’ yet after reading your pamphlet, I can- 
not allow myself to doubt that you ‘speak that which you know, and testify that 
which you have seen.’ During long years gone by, an indefinite conviction has 
unceasingly rested upon me, that something better , higher , holier, was in re- 
serve for the regeneration of this lost world.” “Your communication to the Ed- 
wards Church is the first connected and apparently reliable statement relative to 
this matter that I have seen. I do not say that I am a convert to all your views — 
but I do say that I am favorably impressed,” &c. 

A venerable Orthodox Clergyman, who lias preached the gospel for upwards of 
fifty years, writes: 

“I have recently seen and carefully read your communication and that of your 
estimable consort, to the Edwards Church in Boston, in which I have been deeply 
interested. I have read much on this mysterious subject of what is called Spir- 
itualism, but have been able to obtain no satisfactory result. Your communica- 
tion has interested me more than anything that 1 have heard or read. I wish to 
ascertain the truth on a subject so interesting and important. And as I know 
something of your high character, as to intelligence, veracity and Christian piety, 
I have a strong desire to see you, and converse with you freely, in Christian 
meekness, respecting your late wonderful experience.” • 

This ‘ Letter ’ has been republished in London, with an Introduction from an 
American gentleman resident there, endorsing the character and standing of its 
authors; and a Preface by an English lady, in which its testimony is placed on the 
same ground as to credibility with that of Paul before Agrippa, &c. 

Price, 10 cents single ; 75 cents per dozen. Postage 1 cent. 





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